10 Ways Your Pennsylvania Office Can Go Green
Environmental stewardship is all the rage these days, but overhauling your office building to make it green might be more than your budget can handle. However, even a few small changes and adding some innovative commercial office furniture can add up to a big impact.
Use Less Paper
Did you know that the average office worker uses 10,000 sheets of copy paper each year? Switching to digital documents can help cut down on paper; before a meeting, send notes through email instead of printing out a copy for each person.
Use More Natural Light
Blocking out natural light with blinds forces employees to rely on artificial light. Keep the windows and shades open to save money on your office’s electricity bills. Glass walls allow you to divide your interior space while letting natural light reach further into your building.
Invest in Remanufactured Products
You don’t need to purchase everything brand new. At Extra Office Interiors, our Essentially New commercial office workstations offer all the perks of new equipment, but the bones of the workstation are built from remanufactured materials. You’ll save money while helping to keep products out of the landfill.
Encourage Recycling
If your employees have an easy way to recycle, they’ll be more likely to toss their aluminum cans into the right receptacle. Placing recycling bins next to each garbage can in the office will cut down on recyclable items ending up at a landfill.
Donate Unwanted Items
Donating old printers, monitors, and office furniture reduces waste while helping out local charities. A local school, for example, may have a need for old computer peripherals. Many non-profit organizations can benefit from gently used commercial business furniture as well.
Turn Off Electronics
Leaving workstations running all weekend is a good way to waste electricity. When the work day is over, remember to turn off all of the electronics in the office.
Use More Video Conferencing
Your office workers might be accustomed to travelling to meet clients, but many face-to-face meetings can be replaced with video conferencing. Even if you need to demonstrate some of your products to a client, you can ship the products to your customer and demonstrate them over video rather than travelling to the client.
Switch to LED Light bulbs
LED light bulbs are a little more expensive than traditional light bulbs, but they’re more energy-efficient than even compact fluorescent bulbs. In addition, LED bulbs can last for years and don’t contain toxic chemicals, such as mercury.
Develop Smarter Energy Profiles for Devices
Most modern computers allow you to reduce your energy usage by turning down your performance. If your computing tasks are mostly limited to spreadsheets, word processing and Internet usage, you can reduce your carbon footprint without impacting your regular operations.
Allow Telecommuting
With cloud computing and video conferencing, you might not need all of your employees to come into the office every day. Allowing your employees to telecommute can reduce greenhouse emissions and overall energy usage. It’ll likely make your employees ecstatic as well.
Overall, going green may seem more intimidating than it actually is. Start small and see what your office can do differently whether that’s simply using less paper, or turning off electronics. Every little bit can make a difference.